Now your laptop can learn your exact speech patterns

At some point, we’ve all had to Write Something. A CV or job application; a thank-you email; a presentation; a blog post.

Being asked to Write Things generally fills many people with fear. “I can’t write! I never know what to say! What if I mess it all up?” Sometimes the same is true even for professional writers. The brain/finger interface just decides not to jive.

But ask someone to sum up their last job in conversation, or say thanks, or talk about something they’re an expert in, and chances are it’ll all trip off the tongue with no problems.

Just talking can be a far easier way to get your point across – especially if writing fills you with fear. Nuance – the developer and publisher of Dragon automatic speech-recognition software – knows this. And it can help you.

Dragon Professional Individual version 15 and Dragon Professional Individual for Mac version 6 both deploy Deep Learning technology to ensure that what you say is transcribed quickly and accurately to your PC.

No datacentre required

The software’s accuracy improves further as it learns more about the way you – you, personally – talk. It’s been inspired by the way the brain interprets sensory input; traditionally, deep neural net systems required extensive training before launch in the sort of computer labs you’d see in a sci-fi film, but Dragon’s tech lets this happen effortlessly on your own computer.

It adapts to your active vocabulary by looking at things you’ve written in the past – both by learning custom words and the typical phrases and text patterns you use. And it keeps learning on the fly, to analyse and optimise how it interprets your speech in the present – so if you’re down and sniffling with a cold, or stressed-out by bellowing over screaming kids, it’s still working to understand you.

And then, when you’re finished – and the software is in offline mode – it goes introspective and does some more intense learning based on what it’s just been listening to. So, over time, it gets even more accurate based on your voice. In fact, Nuance says it can drive accuracy rates in some instances up to 24 per cent higher.

The PC version, Dragon Professional Individual version 15, is optimised for popular touchscreen PCs; can automatically format copy to reduce the need for post-editing; includes voice-driven editing, formatting and command-and-control; and has an improved user interface.

The Mac version, Dragon Professional Individual version 6, now offers a transcription Batch Mode to save time if you’re working on multiple files; supports full text control within the latest business apps; and also works with Apple Pages, Keynote and Numbers, as well as Microsoft Outlook 2016, Scrivener and more.

No longer must you fear the mocking blank page and flashing cursor in your word-processor. Just fire up Dragon and talk…